I attended the MASA swap meet this last Saturday in EL DORADO, ARKANSAS .Also attending were DIST VIII AVP'S Gary Strickland and Olen Rutherford .It is normally a mixture of electric to large gas R/C and a large segment of CONTROL LINE equipment in a great facility .The club has a very nice R/C and CONTROL LINE field on the East side of town . Lunch and breakfast snacks are always available .Jason Cunningham and the guys put on a good event - swap meet , r/c or control line .
I had a great time at the end talking to Olen Rutherford as we spent a significant amount of time recalling our early model airplane and AMA experiences plus many of the great modelers we had known .

Just a reminder--- The Texarkana Texas club will have a swap meet on FEB 16th at Gary Strickland's facility in Nash, Texas

A NICE EVENT CD'D BY MIKE SANDLING AND THE CEDAR CREEK AEROMODELERS CLUB AT THE SMITH RANCH AIRPORT .THIS SITE HAS A LONG , FULL SCALE, GRASS , LIGHTED RUNWAY . THIS CLUB PUTS ON A GOOD EVENT WITH GOOD FOOD , SUPER FRIENDLY FOLKS AND GREAT RAFFLE PRIZES .
IT WAS SORT OF WINDY THIS YEAR BUT IT DIDN'T SLOW DOWN THE GUYS FLYING THE BIG BIRDS AND OTHER SMALLER MODELS . I HAD A GOOD TIME " HANGER FLYING " WITH SEVERAL GREAT GUYS AND MANAGED TO STAY WELL AFTER THE RAFFLE .
THIS IS A GREAT SITE AND WELL WITHIN A SHORT DRIVE FROM THE DFW AREA , SO GIVE THEM A SHOT NEXT TIME .

I ENJOYED A GREAT SATURDAY WATCHING THIS SANCTIONED COMBAT EVENT ,CD' BY DANE McGEE.DANE IS ALSO THE VP OF THE RCCA SIG GROUP AND HAS FLOWN AT THE NATS EVENTS MANY TIMES .THERE WERE 12 REGISTERED PILOTS , MOSTLY FROM THE NORTHEAST AREA OF TEXAS BUT AS FAR AWAY AS ROUND ROCK ,TEXAS . THIS IS AN EXCITING EVENT BOTH FOR THE PILOTS AND SPECTATORS WITH LOTS OF STREAMER CUTS AND INFREQUENT COLLISIONS WITH MOTHER EARTH AND EACH OTHER .
THE GREENVILLE RADIO CONTROL AIRPLANE CLUB - CHARTER # 3302- FLIES OFF THE PROPERTY OF CLUB MEMBER PAUL WOOD ; WHICH HAS A NICE GRASS RUNWAY , SHADE STRUCTURE, TOILET AND A MOWED CONTROL LINE CIRCLE .I ALSO MET THE CLUB PRESIDENT , TOM HUBERT --VERY NICE GROUP OF GUYS AND CERTAINLY WORTH VISITING .
I PRESENTED THE DISTRICT VIII MAD AWARD TO DANE FOR ALL OF HIS SUPPORT FOR THE AMA AND THE HOBBY .

Well, you ask , why isn't this posted under CONTROL LINE ?
I hope that most of you take the time to read the articles in MODEL AVIATION pretty thoroughly and don't "cherry pick" mostly items that really interest you .If you have noticed , there have been more and more articles concerning control line activity , which is growing .
You may have read that JOE NALL has added several control line circles and has had several hundred people of all ages take a turn in the circle . There is a generational gap concerning control line . Many of us old "moss backs" were introduced to the hobby with "stick" models and control line models .Then came R/C in the 60's and 70's and that area has been the main attraction since and has been much easier to get into due to the ARF'S and now it's the "drones" that have captured the attention of many .
I suggest that some of you individuals and clubs consider looking at the current state of the control line models . Electric power and ARF'S are now a quickly growing segment of that SIG and offer many possibilities for introducing youth to the hobby . An electric powered control line model can be flown in a nearby park with no associated noise , if you have been flying electric you have all you need except he model and the electric timing module - both inexpensive . Perhaps some club members can put together a gas or electric powered model that can be brought to the club field for kids or younger flyers . There are several ARF models available that are good starters .
This is a great hobby and encompasses many model airplane disciplines and is not one dimensional , some clubs encourage control line activity and have made allowance for it at their flying site .
If any of you are interested in these thoughts or are needing information on sources, please send me an email and I will be pleased to pass along the information I have .I would caution some of you guys that are near my age that it's not as easy as it once was to fly in that circle anymore - falling down is not a pretty picture .

The picture shows most of the DISTRICT VIII attendees at the 2015 SEFF EVENT ( southeast electric flight festival ) held at MAC HODGES held each year .I have been a volunteer staff member since 2006 . Over the years I have met many people there from DISTRICT VIII . Now an AVP , I thought I would try to group some of them for a picture this year , as I was too busy after the morning pilots meeting -Michael " crash ' Hancock was kind enough to compose the group and arrange the picture.
Left to right- Michael McDougall , Michael Hancock , UNKNOWN , Jim Ballard , Matthew Vaudrin , John Ballard , UNKNOWN
DISTRICT VIII has many active members that travel long distances to various events and represent our district very well

This event was called the "SWEATY RED NECK FUN FLY ' on the district VIII listing and was it correctly named !! As most of you in the Arklatex area know , the temperatures have been very high with some reaching heat index figures of 110F . This was my first visit to the Nacogdoches flying site which is located on the A.L. MANGHAM REGIONAL AIRPORT facilities on an unused older runway .This flying site is the result of some very close work of club members , airport operators and the city of Nacogdoches and they are justly proud of it .
The club website is one of the better ones I have seen in my area and I recommend a visit to it . The club is the NACOGDOCHES AERO MODELERS CLUB , AMA CHARTER 2305.
While there I presented two AMA DISTRICT VIII MAD AWARDS( making a difference ), Drew Thomas -president and CD AND Dave Hinson-creator of the website and major player in the club .
I also met several members of the Lufkin , Texas club, Teresa and Keith Beasley and Robert Witherspoon

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